Knitting versus Sewing

When I was pregnant with KK, I was put on bed rest for ten weeks. Believing that I was bored and had nothing to do, my husband taught me to knit (yes, he learned to knit when he was in Norway as a ploy to pick up girls - a story for another time). Over the past six years since this time, I have periodically selected a simple knitting project and made various hats, mittens, and stockings. Knitting allows my hands to be active while I sit. I have found that knitting gives me the freedom to stop flying about without feeling guilty about my inactivity.

About a month ago, I was shopping for a plain, white button down shirt for our trip to Belgium. My travel clothes always include a pair of black pants and a white shirt as they can be worn just about anywhere. My pants had held up well since our last trip, but my white shirt was looking a little worn and frayed. I didn't image that finding a white, button down shirt would be such a problem. As I am short, I shop in the petite section. Since nursing two children, certain parts of my anatomy are less than petite. I could not find one white shirt that fit through the shoulders while not puckering between the buttons. In frustration, I bought a pattern and material and decided to make my own damn shirt.

Needless to say, I am still making the shirt. If my mother hadn't laughed when I bought the material, I would have quietly put this project aside, but pride demands that I finish this stupid thing, even though it is obvious that I would fail a home economics class. Yesterday, I was quite proud of the darts I sewed into the front and back of the shirt. Feeling smug, I went to sew the front to the back - a rather easy step. It was only when my husband pointed out that my darts seams were showing that I realized I sewn the front and the back together backwards! Today, my project is pulling out the seams from yesterday and trying again. I hope to have this damn thing done before I fly to Maine in June, otherwise I expect some more laughter from my mother.

It's not that I haven't sewn before. I made my daughter a couple of cute jumpers when she was an infant. I put a cute hem on my new jeans when I shortened them a month ago. Yet this shirt is my Mt. Everest - the unsewn pieces taunting me. Now I just want it done, so I can put my sewing machine back in the laundry room to collect dust.

I think from now on I'll stick to knitting.

Don't cha' hate it . . .

When you spend all day making soup. You soak the beans for a day, hand chop various vegetables, put in the herbs. You actually follow the recipe word for word. Put it all in the slow cooker for several hours, stirring only when required by the recipe. And when you finally taste it , it's terrible.

Pizza. anyone?

A Boat Tour of Brugge

When the rain finally stopped, we took a lovely but cold, boat ride around Brugge.

Enjoy the view!

Cultural Highlight

In case, you believe we spent all our time at child friendly places like Eftling and Oceade, here's proof that we did manage to drag the children through one museum. The Choco Story is a museum all about chocolate. The museum follows the discovery and the history of cocoa, as well as the development of the chocolate bar. The museums is especially appealing to young children as they have developed a sticker game, where children must find postings at each exhibit and put the matching stickers in the right order. The end of the museum has an area that shows the making of chocolates and some impressive chocolate sculptures.

During our visit, there were numerous sculptures of chocolate dogs. I have to say that these sculptures made me rethink my ban on dogs at our house.

I am sure theses are easier to clean up after than the real thing.

Man's Best Friend.

Also, there were chocolate hats . . .

with apples and corsages!

And finally, the nudes!

And I was worried the kids wouldn't enjoy the museums!

Where we have been spending our time

I promise more later in the week. In brief, the kids did very well and Delta Airlines did not. Beyond the normal lost luggage, delays, and tight connections, the last leg of the flight yesterday (Atlanta to Tampa) was through a lightening storm where we thrown around quite a bit. We were stuck circling in the storm for an hour and it was quite scary. So today, the kids and I are going to curl up on the couch, watch some cartoons (in English!), and sample some of the treats we brought home. Better photos later.